Automobile insurance is a huge industry in the United States, with dozens of companies offering a staggering variety of coverages. Some companies offer automobile insurance along with other insurance products (life insurance, homeowners insurance, etc.), while others do automobile insurance exclusively. It's a multi-billion dollar industry.

This is good news for you when you're looking for car insurance quotes. More companies means more competition, which means the auto insurance rate you wind up with will be lower than it would be with only a few companies involved. (Isn't capitalism great?)

And let's face it, if you drive a car, you need automobile insurance. In many states, it's required by law. Some states offer severe penalties if you drive while uninsured, even if you're never involved in an accident. It's not worth the risk to drive without insurance.

Even if your state doesn't mandate it, automobile insurance is a good idea. At the very least, you should have liability insurance, which takes care of the other person's expenses if you're in an accident in which you're at fault. The auto insurance rate is cheaper for liability-only. It's useful if your car is old or beat-up and not particularly worth insuring.

You'll get higher car insurance quotes if you want comprehensive coverage. Comprehensive coverage handles everything -- damage to your car, personal injuries, and damage and injuries to the other party in the accident. It covers your car against other damage, too -- cracked windshields, vandalism, theft, and so forth. In most cases, if you still owe money on the car, the lien-holder requires you to have comprehensive automobile insurance. If you own the car outright, you can have as little or as much coverage as you want.

Car insurance quotes are easy to come by. You've no doubt seen TV commercials promoting this company or that one, boasting the fact that getting auto insurance rates is as easy as going to a Web site. Don't assume that the company with the most engaging ads or the highest-profile name will always have the best rates, though. In many cases, it might be true. But in other cases, companies you haven't heard of may be better for you. Each company has different internal, obscure ways of calculating auto insurance rates, so you never know who will be cheaper for your particular situation.

Some companies' Web sites will even show you their competitors' rates alongside their own. This is handy, of course, but don't stop there. Go to other companies sites yourself to find out what they have to offer. It's also wise to consider smaller firms, ones that only operate in a few states and don't have millions of dollars for national TV exposure. Often, these lesser-known firms can offer lower auto insurance rates than their more-famous competitors.

Ideally, of course, you'll never have to collect on your automobile insurance. Ideally, you'll never be in an accident. But even if you drive safely and carefully, there's always the chance another driver will be less cautious than you. In those cases, having automobile insurance means having peace of mind.